Juan Lopez No 2 (SMG FEB 08) – “Big Night”

You have to love Christmas. Family, friends, catching up with the rellies and hoards of kids, most of whom you’d swear you’ve never seen before, too much to eat and drink. Can be a bit full-on, but that is all part of the fun. 

At Chez G, I always do a family dinner for anywhere between 8 and 12, give or take. Out at the markets and then cooking for several days. Trialling a few dishes to make certain they work. Trying (sort of) to accommodate my vegan niece. The fridge and freezer will be bulging. Every year, every single year, I end up with enough left over to feed 20 people for two weeks. 

This year, we kicked off with onion relish nibbles; then gazpacho; for mains – a ginger, garlic lemon pork belly in black vinegar; lima beans with tripe and bacon; Hot Enoki Mushrooms, Bamboo Tips, Snow Peas and other Vegetariany things; Sweet Potato Mash; Indian Dahl; a Bread, Tomato and Tuna Italian Salad and a Vegan Salad (okay, almost all salads are vegan so that wasn’t hard). Finally, Homemade Chocolate Ice-Cream (I'm okay with there being a lot of that left over). Naturally, the family chips in and brings stuff as well. Perhaps a smidge excessive as there were only 7 of us this year, with people away. 

Drinks are actually easy as most of the family rarely drink more than a glass of wine and don’t really care what it is, or perhaps a beer. Needless to say, by the end of that, I am knackered. 

The following day is always Christmas lunch at either my uncle’s or sister’s (alternate years). This year, my uncle’s, and he piles on the great fresh seafood etc. My cousin’s husband is a mad keen fisherman so we always end up having a few beers and a good yack. It is a ‘no presents’ thing but my uncle always manages to hand over a bottle of port given to him by one of his patients (he is an orthopod though retired) or some organisation where he has done presentations – these days, much more on WWI history than medicine – his father, my grandfather, was in France for nearly four years during that War, from when he joined by lying about his age (and memorising the eye test as he was blind as a bat), eventually winning a Military Cross and Bar (the Bar might have been to one of his brothers – four of them fought, including one who landed at Gallipoli on April 25! – the family history on that side gets a bit muddled). He does not like port so I get the goodies! This year, a 1947 Seppelt Para Port. Woohoo! It will not be appearing in any forthcoming video. 

So with all that going on, very little chance to start the cleaning. So Boxing Day normally a clean-up. By the evening, I was ready to crash, but I really felt like a cigar. Been a while. 

Now, Rob has come up with an excellent idea – the ‘Robusto Rumble’. The idea is to work through all the Robustos and match them with appropriate drinks. This JL2, however, was not part of that, but rather one of the very last ones from a box from 2008 I had at home – they have appeared in Kenfessions at least twice before. 

This one? Good smoke. Some spice, earth and denseness. Liked it. Not the honey or caramel I've seen in some but certainly the spice. Nicely balanced and good construction. Good oomph on the finish. Absolutely nothing not to love here. Supple, complex, dense smoke. No bumps. Some coffee creamy notes. 91. 

From this box, which is down to the last one or two, pretty consistent. They have all been around the 90 to 93 with one exception at a glorious 95 and two or three other exceptions at an abysmal 65 and a poor, earthy 87 (and another that literally fell apart). 

To drink? Here really is a Kenfession. I simply did not feel like anything to drink. At all. Now, that rather defeats the purpose of Kenfessions, but I have tried to make small amends by combining it with a movie. There has been plenty of movie debate on the forum of late, with ‘The Irishman’ (loved Dave Barry’s description of it – no spoilers on that from me – see the thread if you have missed it) and the films of Tarantino (not looking to open that can of worms again). 

The one I watched and the cigar behaved so beautifully that it finished just as the final credits rolled, is what I consider to be the greatest “food movie” ever made (my friend Juri would call it a fact, and on this occasion, he’d be right) – ‘Big Night’. 

This is a mid-90s film with a cracking cast, led by Stanley Tucci – one of my favourite actors – plus Ian Holm, Marc Anthony and Liev Schreiber in early roles, Isabella Rossellini, Minnie Driver, Allison Janney, Tony Shalhoub, Campbell Scott and more. If I may refer to one thing my friend Juri mentioned re Mr Tarantino was that he wrote and directed much of his work. My point at the time was, as admirable as that is, so do many others. In fact, Tucci wrote, produced, directed and starred in this film, although others assisted in areas. 

If you have not seen it, do yourself a favour. It is a really lovely little film (and yes, I'd pick this way ahead of anything our derivative friend has made, but understand that others may not). It did well, in a small way, on release, winning lots of awards and plaudits, but probably not as much commercial success as deserved. 

Basically, two Italian brothers run a failing restaurant in New Jersey in the 50s – largely because the chef brother is a brilliant but difficult perfectionist. A “friendly competitor” sets them up by promising a famous jazz singer will come and boost their business so they push the boat out and have one big night. He never shows – they have a great party – but in the end, it all turns to custard but for most of the film, you cannot help but be grinning and giggling and smiling. Great music – the version the guy mimes of ‘Hey Mambo’ is sensational. 

And the food!!! 

The central dish is a timpano and I remember that many Italian restaurants back then suddenly were being hounded to make timpano. 

This is a link to bits from the film and the making of a timpano. https://www.bingingwithbabish.com/recipes/2017/2/20/il-timpano-inspired-by-big-night

Just a fun, lovely film and ideal for a cigar where you really did not want to be thinking too much. 

The perfect match. 

KBG